The Sorcery Spell Book
The Sorcery Spell Book (also called The Sorcery! Spell Book) was a special spell book packaged with The Shamutanti Hills as the first release in the Sorcery! series by Penguin Books in the boxset entitled "Steve Jackson's Sorcery!" in 1983. It was written by Steve Jackson and illustrated throughout by John Blanche. The original release was unnumbered in the original Penguin series (ISBN 0-14-006793-0). It was then, for a very short time, published separately after the release of Kharé - Cityport of Traps until 1984 when Penguin migrated the Sorcery! books to Puffin Books. Interestingly, in those prints where it was produced to be sold individually (i.e. outside of the original boxset) its name on the spine changed to The Sorcery! Spell Book, the "!" being added after the word Sorcery!). It was subsequently incorporated, minus the illustrations, into the back of the four Sorcery! volumes when they were published by Puffin. When the Sorcery! books were reprinted by Wizard Books in 2003 and Scholastic Books across 2018-present, they followed the same pattern as the Puffin printings (although in the instance of the Wizard edition the illustrations did survive the transition). The book was republished by Arion Games in 2013 with additional material by Graham Bottley. Creation Background Contents Introduction An introduction by Graham Bottley was added for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy release in 2013. The Sorcery! Adventure - pg.5}} This section is omitted in all the printings where the spell book was included as an appendix at the back of the Sorcery! titles. It was also skipped in the 2013 Advanced Fighting Fantasy release. Rules for Using Magic - pg.7-8}} '''The Six Most Useful Spells' - pg.8 - pg.8}} All of this was omitted in the 2013 ''Advanced Fighting Fantasy release. Hints on Using Spells - pg.9}} Omitted in the 2013 Advanced Fighting Fantasy release. The Spells - pg.11-107 Each spell comes with an explanation of usage and a stamina cost. In the 2013 Advanced Fighting Fantasy release there is an additional explanation showing how the spell works within the rules of the RPG. Sorcery Rules - pg.101-111 (Advanced Fighting Fantasy edition) A new section added in the 2013 Advanced Fighting Fantasy release by Graham Bottley. Covers and Illustrations Covers The cover of the book was designed by Maggie Kneen. The book became incorporated into the other Sorcery! volumes from 1984. It was never independently produced by Wizard Books or Scholastic Books, but however was published separately by Arion Games in 2013. In the US printing the title used red metallic foil. Illustrations The illustrations were by John Blanche and consisted of 48 full page illustrations (one per spell) and one minor repeated illustration. The artwork did not survive the spell book being added as an appendix to the Puffin editions of the Sorcery! titles. The artwork returned (minus the minor repeated illustration) for the Wizard edition (albeit with 2-3 pieces of art per page on a smaller page size) before disappearing again for the Scholastic release. All of John Blanche's art (full page and minor) is present in the 2013 Advanced Fighting Fantasy release. Further Notes *An advert featuring The Sorcery Spell Book as a separate item to be published is on the back of issue 1 of Warlock. Dedication none See Also References Category:1983 books Category:Scripts and Writing Category:Sorcery Entries Category:Sorcery Series Category:Spells Category:Advanced Fighting Fantasy Series Category:Types of Magic Category:Advanced Fighting Fantasy Entries